The Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo State, Jarret Tenebe, has rejected claims that he participated in the Ekiti governorship election as an accredited observer, insisting that a viral photograph showing him in an INEC observer jacket was digitally manipulated using artificial intelligence.
Tenebe made the clarification during an interview on AIT on Tuesday, responding to widespread social media discussions surrounding the image that surfaced after the June 20 governorship election in Ekiti State.
According to the APC chieftain, his presence in Ekiti was linked to a gathering of APC state chairmen who had agreed to support party structures during off-cycle elections across the country. He maintained that he had no role in election observation or monitoring.
“We have a forum of APC State Chairmen all over the country, and we all agreed that in any stand-alone election, we have to give support to our fellow chairmen in that election. That was how I got to Ekiti, not to monitor elections or whatever,” he said.
Tenebe described the controversial image as a product of artificial intelligence, alleging that political opponents were responsible for circulating it online.
“What you saw on the internet is a creation of AI. And you know that these opposition people, they know how to do that a lot. So I think it was AI. It was not me,” he stated.
The Edo APC chairman further stressed that he has never been accredited by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as an election observer and has never served in such a capacity.
“I was never accredited, and I have never been accredited. It’s clear AI, and they are fond of doing it, and they will continue to do it. And AI is going to cause problems for everybody in this country,” he added.
Speaking on the origin of the image, Tenebe claimed he first came across it on the social media page of former Kogi West senator, Dino Melaye. He accused the opposition figure of using the image to fuel political controversy following the election.
The Ekiti State governorship election was conducted on June 20, 2026, as part of Nigeria’s off-cycle elections. Following the collation of results, INEC declared incumbent governor Biodun Oyebanji of the APC as the winner of the poll.
